Cliff Hite had tremendous success on the gridiron, earning all-state honors as a Findlay High quarterback in 1971 and then accumulating a 149-89 record as a head coach at the high school level. Hite began a 13-year coaching career at Bryan in 1983 and left as the school’s winningest coach. In 1996, he took over at Findlay High. During his FHS tenure he was AP Division I Coach of the Year in 1999 and a 3-time district coach. He was a district coach of the year at Bryan as well. He left Findlay High in 2005 as its winningest coach. In his 23 years as a head coach, Hite won 8 conference championships and was coach of the year in the Northwest Ohio Athletic League (1985 & ’86), the Great Lakes League (1998, ’99 & ’02) and the Greater Buckeye Conference (2005). Hite coached three future National Football League players and 22 first-team all-state players. As a player, Hite earned all-conference honors at Findlay and then became a two-year letter winner at Kentucky. In 1976, he was a member of the Wildcats team that won the Southeastern Conference and the Peach Bowl.